Dr Izukanji Sikazwe, MBChB, MPH is CIDRZ Chief Executive Officer

Dr Izukanji Sikazwe is an infectious disease physician, HIV programme expert, and clinical researcher whose work has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Health Organization. She has served as Deputy CEO since joining CIDRZ in 2013. Prior to that she served as an HIV Technical and Policy expert within the University of Maryland programme in Zambia, and was seconded for two years to provide technical assistance within the National Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Programme of the Government of the Republic of Zambia. She is an active member of multiple government Technical Working Groups, a valued mentor and educator of medical trainees and Masters-level students at the University of Zambia School of Medicine, and practices clinical medicine at the Adult Infectious Disease Centre of Excellence at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka.

Dr Sikazwe graduated with an MBChB degree from the UNZA School of Medicine and completed internship at University Teaching Hospital. She then completed Internal Medicine residency and Infectious Disease fellowship at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore and the University of Maryland, USA. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from Michigan State University, USA.

She previously served as CIDRZ Deputy CEO for almost four years under Dr Charles Holmes and was promoted to CEO in January 2017 after a competitive search.

Latest News

CIDRZ receives a Two and half year grant from Elton John Foundation for Building capacities of the Zambia Correctional Service to provide holistic and integrated health services to juvenile offenders. The Elton John Foundation has awarded CIDRZ a £750,000 to provide comprehensive, juvenile-appropriate health services including recreational and legal services. The grant will focus on […]

Community based ART delivery models have been shown to reduce the burden and strain on the local health system. These models have shown improved outcomes that include better patient retention in care, reduced clinic congestion, and patient satisfaction. Nessia Tembo of Matero was one of the over 400 participants who took part in the […]

By: Munyaradzi Makoni [CAPE TOWN] A dose of oral vaccine provides effective short-term protection against the cholera during an outbreak, a study in Zambia shows. According to researchers, because of a shortage of global stockpile of cholera vaccines, an outbreak in Lusaka, Zambia, in February 2016 necessitated a need for single-dose vaccination. An emergency single-dose […]

To ensure that quality health care reaches to as many as possible in all the sites where CIDRZ has presence, working with the local leadership has been one of the strategies the organisation uses to reach out to many people with health information. We engage with traditional leaders to discuss health issues that concern their […]

Even though there were adequate drugs to supply the patients, facilities in Chongwe district faced challenges in ensuring appropriate storage conditions for drugs. The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) is currently supporting 29 facilities in Chongwe District. All the facilities including the district pharmacy had no functional air conditioners in the pharmacy […]